Fulton Lights -- 'Am I Right or Am I Right?' (Android Eats)

Handout

Rating: ** (out of 4 stars) Andrew Spencer Goldman, the mostly one-man team making up Fulton Lights, slyly used a rhetorical question for the title of his new album. Whether it was his intention or not, the title, "Am I Right or Am I Right," represents the reasoning behind the throw-it-all-against-the-wall approach to his third full-length album. Don't like a creative decision he made? Well, this is his art and there are no wrong answers. The creator, in this case a recent University of Maryland law school grad, is right even when he's wrong. That's not to say the title track -- and album as a whole -- are overly self-serious. There are brief-but-loose jam sessions and silly lyrics delivered in a playful, high register ("Can't Take My Love"). But more than anything, "Am I Right" feels self-indulgent, with its confounding and constantly shifting execution. And on a visceral level, it's rarely enjoyable to listen to. The problem is Goldman. From song to song, his vocal delivery uneasily changes, making him often sound less than confident. He uncomfortably jumps from a Bruce Springsteen impression (on the solid opener "Baby I"m Tryin'") to a faceless rockabilly pose (the less impressive "Don't Go Away Soon") within the record's first 11 minutes. When the title track arrives a few songs later, a sassy Goldman does an unconvincing David Byrne (from the early '80s) imitation. And the less said about his inexplicable Jamaican patois on "If You Can Make it Through the Dark," the better. The album's biggest achievement is its production. Goldman, who plays five instruments on the record, also produced it, which might indicate where his talent lies. The background vocals, one of Goldman's strongest assets, sound distant but purposeful. The best songs ("Don't Let the Animals In" and "The Riddle in Me" both come from the noticeably stronger second half) sound like Arcade Fire demos. They possess palpable energy and gusto, in contrast to the other songs that trudge along in search of direction. Goldman clearly has countless ideas, but there is such a thing as having too many -- depending on whom you ask, of course. --Wesley Case

Rating: ** (out of 4 stars) Andrew Spencer Goldman, the mostly one-man team making up Fulton Lights, slyly used a rhetorical question for the title of his new album. Whether it was his intention or not, the title, "Am I Right or Am I Right," represents the reasoning behind the throw-it-all-against-the-wall approach to his third full-length album. Don't like a creative decision he made? Well, this is his art and there are no wrong answers. The creator, in this case a recent University of Maryland law school grad, is right even when he's wrong. That's not to say the title track -- and album as a whole -- are overly self-serious. There are brief-but-loose jam sessions and silly lyrics delivered in a playful, high register ("Can't Take My Love"). But more than anything, "Am I Right" feels self-indulgent, with its confounding and constantly shifting execution. And on a visceral level, it's rarely enjoyable to listen to. The problem is Goldman. From song to song, his vocal delivery uneasily changes, making him often sound less than confident. He uncomfortably jumps from a Bruce Springsteen impression (on the solid opener "Baby I"m Tryin'") to a faceless rockabilly pose (the less impressive "Don't Go Away Soon") within the record's first 11 minutes. When the title track arrives a few songs later, a sassy Goldman does an unconvincing David Byrne (from the early '80s) imitation. And the less said about his inexplicable Jamaican patois on "If You Can Make it Through the Dark," the better. The album's biggest achievement is its production. Goldman, who plays five instruments on the record, also produced it, which might indicate where his talent lies. The background vocals, one of Goldman's strongest assets, sound distant but purposeful. The best songs ("Don't Let the Animals In" and "The Riddle in Me" both come from the noticeably stronger second half) sound like Arcade Fire demos. They possess palpable energy and gusto, in contrast to the other songs that trudge along in search of direction. Goldman clearly has countless ideas, but there is such a thing as having too many -- depending on whom you ask, of course. --Wesley Case (Handout)

Rating: ** (out of 4 stars) Andrew Spencer Goldman, the mostly one-man team making up Fulton Lights, slyly used a rhetorical question for the title of his new album. Whether it was his intention or not, the title, "Am I Right or Am I Right," represents the reasoning behind the throw-it-all-against-the-wall approach to his third full-length album. Don't like a creative decision he made? Well, this is his art and there are no wrong answers. The creator, in this case a recent University of Maryland law school grad, is right even when he's wrong. That's not to say the title track -- and album as a whole -- are overly self-serious. There are brief-but-loose jam sessions and silly lyrics delivered in a playful, high register ("Can't Take My Love"). But more than anything, "Am I Right" feels self-indulgent, with its confounding and constantly shifting execution. And on a visceral level, it's rarely enjoyable to listen to. The problem is Goldman. From song to song, his vocal delivery uneasily changes, making him often sound less than confident. He uncomfortably jumps from a Bruce Springsteen impression (on the solid opener "Baby I"m Tryin'") to a faceless rockabilly pose (the less impressive "Don't Go Away Soon") within the record's first 11 minutes. When the title track arrives a few songs later, a sassy Goldman does an unconvincing David Byrne (from the early '80s) imitation. And the less said about his inexplicable Jamaican patois on "If You Can Make it Through the Dark," the better. The album's biggest achievement is its production. Goldman, who plays five instruments on the record, also produced it, which might indicate where his talent lies. The background vocals, one of Goldman's strongest assets, sound distant but purposeful. The best songs ("Don't Let the Animals In" and "The Riddle in Me" both come from the noticeably stronger second half) sound like Arcade Fire demos. They possess palpable energy and gusto, in contrast to the other songs that trudge along in search of direction. Goldman clearly has countless ideas, but there is such a thing as having too many -- depending on whom you ask, of course. --Wesley Case